Berlin City Tours Blog

Berlin, the Entrepreneurial Dream. Part 2

Posted on April 19, 2012 by Boris from Berlin

After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 hopes were high that many of the investment banks in Frankfurt would relocate to the new German capital in the East. They were hoping this would bolster the floundering East German economy and help bring the two halves of the population back together again. This did not happen and as a result Berlin slipped far into debt as many artists and other creative types started to fill the affordable yet dilapidated East German real estate. They found the lack of established businesses and societal pressures, not to mention the low cost of living, ideal to create and design their world as they saw fit. Mayor Klaus Wowereit tried to put a positive spin on this anti-capitalist way of thinking by giving Berlin a new slogan as he declared the city, “Poor but sexy!”

Continue reading →

Posted in Berlin, Cold War, Economics, Germany | Tagged Berlin, berlin business, berlin start ups, berlin startups, Berlin Wall, East Germany, german economy vs american economy, Germany, John Maynard Keynes, Milton Friedman, United States | Leave a comment

Berlin, the entrepreneurial dream

Posted on March 22, 2012 by Boris from Berlin

In 1998 when I first arrived in Berlin to study at the Goethe Institute the world was a much different place than today. Back then people still read newspapers, amazon.com was only 4 years old and Google had just been released on the World Wide Web. Back then not everyone had email addresses, there was no such thing as Facebook, no ipod, ipads, or iphones. In fact most people did not even own mobile phones. Continue reading →

Posted in Berlin, Germany | Tagged Berlin, berlin business, berlin investment, Berlin Wall, German, Germany, Mitte, New York City, Real estate, start ups in berlin, West Germany | Leave a comment

To insure or not to insure

Posted on March 4, 2012 by Boris from Berlin

In 2010 the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland erupted causing chaos around Europe as airports shut down and travelers scrambled to find alternative methods of travel. There were stories of celebrities hiring taxis to ferry them across countries for exorbitant sums of money as trains and bus tickets sold out overnight. How fragile our plans can be when faced with the awesome powers of mother nature became abundantly apparent. After the eruption suddenly travelers the world over finally began to realize the wisdom in purchasing traveler insurance. I witnessed this firsthand as I was working for an apartment hotel for those six days in April 2010. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged April 2010, Eyjafjallajökull, Iceland, insurance, Insurance policy, Travel, Travel insurance, travelers insurance, Volcanic ash | Leave a comment

Berlin by bike

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Boris from Berlin

Biking through Berlin in the spring is one of my favorite things about living in Europe. As a teenager I would not be caught dead on a bicycle but by the time I was in college I had rediscovered the joys of pedal assisted, two-wheeled transportation. As a freshman in 1992 Boston was a beautiful city to bike through but back then there were no bike lanes and often in summer there would be warnings of a high smog index and not so subtle suggestions to stay off the streets to avoid the unhealthy ground-level ozone. Nonetheless I continued biking all through university and even ended up bringing my Gary Fischer bicycle to Berlin when I arrived in 1998.

The first thing that struck me about biking through Berlin was how little traffic there was. Continue reading →

Posted in Attractions, Berlin, Cold War, Germany, Sightseeing, Tours | Tagged Berlin, berlin bike rental, berlin bike tours, berlin neighborhoods, Berlin Wall, bicycle in berlin, bicycle tours, bike berlin, biking berlin, East Germany, German, Germany, grunewald, kreuzberg, kreuzkolln, Mitte, Prenzlauer Berg, teufelsberg, velo tours, West Berlin | Leave a comment

From Los Angeles to Berlin

Posted on February 22, 2012 by Boris from Berlin

The 62^nd Berlinale Film Festival came to a close on the 19^th of February and aside from the tragedy of Whitney Houston’s death it was once again an overwhelming success. Berlin’s streets were graced with the presence of Hollywood stars such as: Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Clive Owen, Meryl Streep, Diana Kruger, and Jake Gyllenhaal. As far as film production goes Berlin has always been the Hollywood of Germany but upon closer inspection the two cities have more in common than just film production. First of all they are both huge cities which over the course of the 20^th century annexed the surrounding towns to become the largest in their respective countries. Berlin has 340 square miles compared with L.A.’s 500 square miles of urban sprawl. They are also both associated with the hedonistic lifestyle of their inhabitants – Berlin with its underground raving club scene whereas L.A. is famous for its upscale and exclusive nightlife of the Viper Room, Vanguard, and Whiskey a Go Go. Continue reading →

Posted in Attractions, Berlin, berlinale, Germany, history | Tagged 62 berlinale, Angelina Jolie, babelsberg, Berghain, Berlin, Berlinale, Brad Pitt, Germany, Jake Gyllenhaal, Los Angeles, Meryl Streep, United States, Viper Room | Leave a comment

Let’s Go Out to the Movies! Berlin’s best films, just in time for the 62nd Berlinale.

Posted on February 10, 2012 by Boris from Berlin

It is that time of year again and the Berlinale Film Festival has once again brought the stars to the German capital. When it comes to cinema many people think Hollywood was where it all started. Many Europeans attribute the medium to the French, when it was in fact the Germans who were most influential in the early years of moving pictures. In 1895 the Skladanowsky brothers gave a demonstration of their homemade film projector in Berlin almost two months before the famous demonstration of the Cinematographie in Paris by the Lumiere brothers. From there things started to develop quite rapidly with a brief pause for WWI when film became less of a means of entertainment as an ideal way to deliver propaganda to the masses. After the horror of the “Great War” as it was ironically known at the time the Expressionist movement found a new ally in the cinema. The 1920’s were a time of radical upheaval and unprecedented change in Germany. Continue reading →

Posted in Berlin, berlinale, Cold War, Germany, history, movies | Tagged 62nd berlinale, andres lizana prado, babelsberg studios, Berlin, berlin 1920's, Berlin Wall, Berlinale, best berlin movies, Billy Wilder, bruno ganz, cabaret, christopher isherwood, daniel bruhl, franka potente, Fritz Lang, german film history, german movies, Germany, goodbye lenin, herr lehman, history of film, Horst Buchholz, inglorious basterds, James Cagney, kitkatclub, liam neeson, Liselotte Pulver, moritz bleibtreu, quentin tarantino, roman polanski, sonnenallee, stasi, studio babelsberg, the pianist, the spy who came in from the cold, tom tykwer, unknown, weimar germany, wim wenders, wings of desire | 1 Comment

2012 – When the future begins

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Boris from Berlin

After recently seeing the documentary “2012, A Time for Change” at an EarthEmerson event I have begun to view the 2012 controversy in a whole new light. There were a number of salient points made addressing the current crises facing our planet; environmental, economic, political, sociological, and spiritual. There were also cameos by various luminaries such as Gilberto Gil, David Lynch, Sting, and Terrence McKenna, although my favorite were the clips of Buckminster Fuller as he discussed life with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Continue reading →

Posted in Cold War, Germany, history | Tagged 2012 a time for change, buckminster fuller, Cold War, enlightenment, German, German Empire, Gilberto Gil, Industrial Revolution, John Maynard Keynes, keynesian economics, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, mayan calendar, World War II | Leave a comment

International flights made easy

Posted on January 14, 2012 by Boris from Berlin

Since the late 1990’s low cost airline carriers have been increasingly dominating the market. This has spawned a whole new generation of internet savvy travelers on the hunt for the best deal. No longer is hopping on a plane solely a privilege of the rich. Naturally this increase in demand has also created opportunities for new companies to make it easier to find the best deal online. Now instead of heading to your local neighborhood travel agent to discuss travel arrangements all reservations can be from the comfort of your living room. Specific search engines have been created compiling all possible providers and making it very easy to get the best deal online. This goes for finding cheap international flights, central accommodations, and even tours, city/airport transfers and local events and sightseeing. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged cheap flights, European Union, international flights, low cost airlines, Low-cost carrier, tourism, Travel, Travel agency | Leave a comment

New Year’s Eve in Berlin!

Posted on December 30, 2011 by Boris from Berlin

New Year’s Eve in Berlin can be quite frightening for Western tourists who were brought up with the history channel. For them the city was the scene of a bloody battle and brutal day and night bombing campaign. Nowadays at this time of year the din begins a few days before and through the 30^th and 31^st distressingly loud fireworks blare through the German capital giving the visitor a good taste of what the city might have sounded like in the last days of the war. Fireworks are an integral part of the festivities and come midnight the whole city erupts in explosions of color. As a biker I found it quite disconcerting to be riding through the streets having drunk teens use me as a moving target for their bottle rockets and roman candles. But once one gets their feet on the ground New Year’s Eve (or Silvester as the Germans know it) can be quite a thrilling experience. Continue reading →

Posted in Attractions, bars, Berlin, clubs, Germany, Sightseeing | Tagged Berlin, Brandenburg Gate, Deep Berlin, Germany, Mauerpark, New Year, new year's eve party Berlin, New Years Eve, Times Square, weekend berlin | Leave a comment

Berlin’s best pizza

Posted on December 23, 2011 by Boris from Berlin

I must first start with a disclaimer. I am originally from New York City so I have a very specific idea of what constitutes the perfect pizza. That is not to say New York has perfected pizza. New Haven, CT has a surprising number of great places, Pepe’s, Sally’s and the Modern to name just three. New Haven, you say? Just read this. And in Boston, Pizzaria Regina in the North End is without a doubt the best the area north of Connecticut has to offer. In order to define the best pizza in Berlin we will be discussing what I consider to be the three main factors in a great pie; crust, sauce, and cheese. Toppings are regional and I will leave it up to the individual preference of the reader to decide what they find appropriate as a topping. Though I will warn you if you order a pepperoni pizza in Berlin you will be shocked to discover your pizza not covered in thin round slices of spicy Italian salami but rather a handful of mild green whole jalapenos. I also find it slightly disturbing that toppings like corn, canned tuna, hollandaise, BBQ sauce, ketchup and hot dogs find their way on top of an otherwise perfectly delightful food. Continue reading →